Dancing in Circles (Circles Trilogy) (19 page)

"Haven't got time." Robert swallowed the last of his beer. "Pete knows I miss him. He knows I'll get revenge. Meanwhile, I've gotta keep the rest of the gang alive. I'm sure Pete doesn't want no company."

Julie rested her hand on his shoulder. "What was it you said to Pete at the end of your eulogy?"

"Just somethin' I made up for another funeral. It's kinda become the gang's motto."

"Well, what is it?" Mrs. Anderson offered seconds. Robert shook his head.

He put his dirty dishes in the sink then sat at the table. "Wherever ya are, may the beer flow freely and the babes be friendly."

"Fitting," said Mrs. Anderson.

"I made one for a girl – wherever ya are, may the sun always sparkle in your eyes." He paused a moment. "I had to make one up for a kid. He was beaten to death by his old man. Wherever ya are, may it always be Christmas."

"You may have a cold steel exterior, but you have the heart of a poet." Mrs. Anderson patted his arm.

"Speaking of poetry, I still gotta study English."

"I'll quiz you like this morning." Julie headed to her room.

Robert took a deep breath. "Mrs. Anderson, I appreciate what ya did yesterday. I was really pis…mad at ya, but I figured out what ya were doin'. It's not easy for a tough guy to say but thanks." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'd buy ya some roses, but I'm broke."

She laughed as Robert went upstairs.

Julie quizzed Robert on novels, poems, authors, and grammatical styles until he conceded exhaustion. "One quick question and I'll leave."

"Forget the question. I'd rather have a kiss." Yawning, he reached for her.

She pushed him back down to his bed. "Question first. What did you write for question six – the DNA one?"

Unfortunately, while Robert puzzled this out, his eyes closed. Julie whispered goodnight, pressed the wall switch and closed the door. She smiled as she walked to her room.
He's back home. He's safe. Life is good.

Little did she know that all hell was about to break loose.

Waiting outside the calculus exam, Julie scanned the hall, wondering where Robert was. She glanced at her watch and sighed. The exam started in five minutes. She entered and sat. Mr. Ross put his hand on the door and pulled. Robert squeezed past, winked at Julie and slid into his desk. The exams were distributed and the class settled down to work. An hour later, Robert stood and took his exam to the teacher's desk.

Mr. Ross frowned. "You know the rules. You may not leave until the exam is over."

"Got permission. Ask the office." He dropped his exam on the desk, smiled at Julie and left.

She finished checking her last question as the teacher announced time was up. After handing in her papers, she headed home. Stretched out on her bed, Julie smiled at the ceiling. No school thoughts until Monday and her dance exam was tomorrow. Her stomach grumbled.

Hoping for an invitation to preview the nursery, Julie decided to surprise her mother by making lunch. While it was a surprise, instead of a sneak preview, Julie's mother said they needed to buy groceries. As they grabbed their coats and purses, Robert strolled into the kitchen.

"Shopping." Julie spun him around towards the door. "We need a slave…I mean a big strong man to carry the packages."

"Lunch." He turned back into the kitchen.

"No time." Mrs. Anderson turned him to the door. "I need groceries if there are to be meals next week."

"Tonight is still pizza night, right? You promised Jason." Julie stifled a giggle as Robert wiggled out of her mother's grip then grabbed the cookie jar and a bottle of juice from the refrigerator.

Her mother buttoned her coat and nodded. "You good to go?"

"Yup." He bit an oatmeal cookie, followed them out of the house then crawled onto the backseat and grabbed another cookie.

Mrs. Anderson backed out of the driveway and drove to Midtown Market. "So tell us what happened yesterday."

"Yes, you made it to calculus by seconds this morning." Julie shifted around to face him.

"Nothing much." Robert chugged some juice. "Both war councils met all night. The police guy shuttled between the two of us. Blood isn't negotiatin' well. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to get tough. I got the cop to give me an escort to school to explain why I had to leave early. By noon, I was beat. I left everythin' to the cops. Can't be logical and reasonable forever. They're paid to be." He shrugged and popped another cookie into his mouth.

Mrs. Anderson pulled into the Midtown Market parking lot and parked the car. Over the years, a small local open-air market had grown to include places where one could buy fresh eggs, chickens, meats, exotic fruits and vegetables, cheeses and heady smelling herbs and spices from faraway places. Julie loved to shop there. The sights and smells excited her senses.

They wandered among the vendors stalls. Her mother tested, sniffed and purchased the produce.

"Hey, Robert." A large man held a loaf of French bread in one hand and waved.

Robert stepped closer to the stall. "Hey, Phillipe. How's Maria?"

Phillipe used his free hand to mimic a big round belly. "Two months before baby is born."

"Take care. And tell Maria to stay healthy."

As they continued to wander through the produce sellers, people shouted hello while others tossed Robert an apple or an orange.

"Why do all these people know you?" Julie asked accepting his offered apple.

"Shoresmen patrol this place. It's one of the things I started. We do a better job than the police. When we catch someone shopliftin', we don't give'em a warning or a ticket." He chuckled. "The cops show up every now and then, just to let us know they're still in charge. We let'em think that, and they go away happy."

Mrs. Anderson stopped at a meat stall. She was examining a roast when Robert came up behind her. "It's got to be a large roast. I am feeding an extra hungry mouth these days." She smiled at Robert.

"You the lady who's been looking after our Robert?" The butcher's apron was covered in swipes of blood.

"Yes, I guess so."

He put the roast into the display case, went to the meat locker and returned with a larger one. He held it up for Mrs. Anderson's inspection.

"Perfect. Thank-you. How much?"

"Nothing. You fix up Robert. You look after him. He's good boy. We need him here. I give you this as a thank you." He wrapped the roast.

Mrs. Anderson placed her hand on her chest. "Oh, my, no."

"Take it, Mrs. A. Enrico'll be hurt if you refuse."

Flustered by the butcher's generosity, she mumbled a
Thank you
, as she accepted the roast and moved on.

Julie turned to speak to Robert, but he wasn't next to her. She glanced around the market then spotted him offering to pay for the roast. Enrico's arms were crossed. Robert shrugged then turned to leave. The butcher stepped up to the counter to wait on another customer. Julie watched as Robert snuck back into the booth, opened the cash register, deposited some money and left.

She caught up with her mother at the Chicken Lady's booth. The Anderson children had given this nickname to the lady from whom they bought their eggs.

"Roberto." The Chicken Lady placed her hands on his cheeks.

"
Bonjourno
." He kissed the grey-haired woman's cheek. "I'm so sorry about Pete." Turning to Julie and her mother, he said, "This is Pete's
Nonna
."

The woman looked heavenward and made the sign of the cross.

"We heard about your grandson. Our condolences." Mrs. Anderson lowered her head for a moment.

Pete's
Nonna
wrapped three dozen eggs. "Here take this. You're a good customer. You come here for years. Now you look after Robert." She pinched his stomach. "Feed him. He's too skinny."

Again, Mrs. Anderson tried to pay but was refused with a gentle push away from the stall. She left for another booth. Curious, Julie hung back to watch what Robert would do this time.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "
Nonna
, take this and light a candle for Pete."

She kissed his forehead. "Bless you, Roberto."

When he caught up with the Anderson women, he asked, "Anything else you need?"

"I…I mean…I never," stammered Mrs. Anderson.

"Give me those." Robert reached for the packages. His cell phone chimed. He checked the call display. "Sorry, gotta take this. I'll meet you at the car."

Julie and her mother walked back through the market towards the parking lot. "See how different he is. He's relaxed and in charge. This is his territory. Watch what happens when we get back to Westland."

Mrs. Anderson nodded in agreement.

"He paid for the roast, you know." Julie explained what she had witnessed. "And he gave Pete's grandmother a donation to light a candle for Pete."

Mrs. Anderson shook her head. "I don't understand him. He doesn't look or act like a gang member. Yet he's obviously in charge here. His jacket proved to me he's a member. I'm sorry my reaction startled him. I was just so surprised to see him wearing it."

Julie opened the marketplace door and held it for her mother. "I've been to the clubhouse and I've met the gang. There are guys there that I wouldn't trust for a second. They look like they'd kill somebody just for fun and yet Robert's not like that. I think he's the leader because he's so different from them. He becomes like them when he's with them but he doesn't become one of them."

They walked to the car, lost in their thoughts.

***

As Robert and Julie unloaded the groceries into the kitchen, Mrs. Anderson called for a pizza delivery. It arrived as Mr. Anderson returned home. "I take it this is the dinner you promised Jason." He dropped two large pizza boxes onto the table.

Enticed by the aroma, family members arrived in the kitchen, ravaged the pizza and disappeared. Robert, Julie and her parents moved to the living room.

"This is strange." Robert stretched out on the couch. "I'm not used to havin' nothin' to do."

Julie settled on the floor next to him while she checked her text messages. "There are lots of post-exam parties we could go to."

"Ooh, a Westland party." He rolled his eyes, but Julie was too busy answering a text to notice.

"I think Jennifer's party would be best. She likes you."

Robert was about to say he'd only been joking about going to a Westland party when the doorbell rang. Mr. Anderson answered it and returned with a tired-looking police officer.

"Lt. Barnes?" Robert sat up. "What'cha doin' here?"

"Looking for you." The lieutenant scratched his head "And wondering why you're in Judge Anderson's house."

"Long story. What's up?"

He glanced around the living room. "We need to talk."

Julie and her parents rose out of their chairs.

"No, it's okay. Nothing secret. Oh, uh?" Lt. Barnes rubbed his forehead.

"They're cool." Robert jerked his thumb towards the Andersons. "They pretty much know everythin'."

Curiosity overtook social decorum and the Andersons sat. Julie's mother indicated a chair in which the lieutenant could sit. She offered a drink. He shook his head.

Facing Robert, he said, "I think we've got a problem with Devil's Blood."

"Big trouble. Bigger trouble if you'se guys don't do your job and find Pete's killer."

Barnes stifled a yawn. "What I came here to find out is what are the Shoresmen going do with Blood?"

Robert glanced at the Andersons. Should he play the gang leader part or be the person they expected? He tapped his fingers on the arm of the sofa while he debated. Gang leader might get him kicked out of the house. Playing Westlander would probably result in more of his gang dying.

He sat up straighter and made eye contact with the police officer. "I've decided to wait. If it's an internal coup, I'll give the new leader a chance. If Juan's up to somethin' – and my gut says he is – I'll take'em."

The police officer shook his head. "Such confidence. What if Death's Desire wants it?"

"Death…give me a break." Robert snorted. "The only way Death gets the Blood gang is if I give it to'em."

"What if we decide it's better that Blood joins the Death gang." The officer rubbed his face. "You know, try and keep things equal."

"Look, Lieutenant, I like ya. You're tryin' way too hard to be cool. Ya got a lousy job tryin' to control us. You're just a cop. We run ourselves. Shoresmen control North Shore and Midtown. The others have a small piece of the pie. You give Blood to Death and we'll take 'em back and probably kill most of Death at the same time. I've decided that at seven p.m. Tuesday, they hand over Pete's killer, or we go to war."

"You could send someone in to talk to Juan."

Robert's tone deepened as his eyes narrowed. "Already did and he got killed. Nobody else walks into that territory unless it's me."